


Relaxation

by MilayaMilenZeal



Series: Long Live the Queen [27]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Hunting, Lots of angry cursing, Post-Game(s), Sexual Tension, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 03:02:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10822380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilayaMilenZeal/pseuds/MilayaMilenZeal
Summary: M.E. 785Hunting can be considerably stressful, and every hunter worth his weight in salt knows that relaxing is just as important as being in good shape for the next hunt. And 18 year old Regina has a secret relaxation technique to release the pent up energy in her body.





	Relaxation

Hunting is far from an easy job, and it certainly isn’t the first time that hunters have been forced to stop hunting to take a few moments, sometimes lasting up to a few days, to calm themselves down and relax. One of the things that Regina has caught on quickly is the fact that hunting is hardly ever as glorious as some make it out to be… especially when they come across the dog tags of those who didn’t make it and have to make the trip to Meldacio to deliver them.

Terry isn’t surprised by any of it, and Libby doesn’t seem to mind either way (does she ever?), but it’s definitely a heavy burden on Regina and Domi.

Domi’s able to push himself through the arduous times by focusing on his sketches and designs, and sometimes he asks one of the others to model for him, and he’ll start designing them new clothes as he sketches them. He’s even tried to draw Regina in a dress that actually suits her, but thus far, he’s has had more than a few problems in getting it to lay well on her shape, and so he continues to stick to pants and shirts.

Regina, however, has a _far_ different way to calm herself down after a particular harsh hunt.

 

“There’s so many of them…” Domi almost whimpers as he gently places another dog tag in the small bag they’d dedicated entirely to the small items whenever they find them. The whole bag is filled to the brim.

“It’s a good thing we were already on the way to Meldacio,” Libby murmurs. “I’m certain the hunters will appreciate their return.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Terry agrees as she tucks her polearm along her back. “It’s getting late, though… how ‘bout we call it a day for now?”

Regina sighs softly as she closes the small bag full of dog tags, and she nods her head. She has no complaints; she definitely needs the time to calm herself down and to compose herself before they reach Meldacio. “Yeah… let’s head for the haven and just take it easy for tonight.”

There are no complaints about her decision. The others have seemingly unanimously agreed that Regina is the “leader” of their group, and it’s definitely something else, but certainly not a bad thing, she decides.

They all mount their corresponding Chocobos and skedaddle on to the nearest haven, which takes them about 10 minutes to get to, still. Once there, they set up camp and as the night settles, they eat dinner and try to make light of their current situation, by completely ignoring the heavy weight of the dog tags as it rests on their shoulders. No one’s willing to open that can of worms just yet.

It’s when night is truly beginning to settle in that Regina decides she needs her “relaxation time”.

“Hey, girls, I’m gonna be right back; I need to go,” she says simply as she heads for the edge of the haven.

“Careful where you walk, Regina,” Libby calls in warning, and Regina merely lifts a hand in a wave over her shoulder without looking before she hops over the edge.

She knows her goal isn’t far, and she’s not about to take exceedingly long; maybe like two minutes, really, three tops. After ensuring there’s no daemons roaming the area, she keeps going, though she keeps a hand on her sword as she goes.

“ _Ah!_ There you are,” she murmurs softly as she nearly skips over to the spiked rocks, sizzling and crackling with pale yellow energy, small sparks snapping out at the air. Quietly, Regina settles on her knees next to it and breathes in slight relief, before she raises a hand to the rocks. A deep breath of air fills her lungs and slips out gently through her lips as the sparking electricity snaps out at her hand, and then surges up through her fingertips and along her arms, making her nerves tingle and filling her with a slight surge of energy very reminiscent of what Regina believes to be _pleasure_ … but she’s loathe to admit that (out loud, anyway).

It ends far too soon, and the once brightly glowing rock has darkened completely, its energy spent; absorbed into Regina’s pliant body and Regina has to resist the urge to _moan_ as the energy courses through her body and makes her shiver and shut her eyes with a trembling sigh. Her skin’s still tingling, and the small hairs along her arms and legs (barely visible, but they’re definitely there) are rising into goose pimples and she rubs at her arms to try and calm them, but her hands only add to the sensation as the electricity sparks its way along her nerves, heating up her skin and electrifying her brain until her mind’s blissfully cleared up and she can’t stop herself from breathing out in relief.

She nearly staggers back to her feet, feeling almost drunk—like that one time Terry’d convinced her and Domi to drink and Six be damned, _never again!_ —as she makes her way back with a slight hitch in her step, but she’s able to correct herself by the time she returns to her friends’ side.

They don’t look up strangely at her extra pep, likely believing that it’s due to the relief from her “bathroom break”, and she’s not about to correct them on that. They get into the tent once they’ve secured all their supplies, and after ditching most of her clothes to leave only her underwear and a sleepshirt, Regina flops face down in her sleeping bag and she shudders as the motion makes her bared skin tingle. Any motion against the flimsy material sends a jolt of pleasure rushing across her spine all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes, and _fuck_ she’d swear it was going all the way to the roots of her hair.

Though she hopes not… she doesn’t want her hair to stick up at odd angles that they really shouldn’t be.

She hears Domi shuffling with his clothes on her left, while Terry and Libby are changing without a word on the right. There’s more than enough space for them to change in the tent without being a bother to each other, but they did have their own spots; Domi’s always on the very right of the tent, almost against the side of the tent’s material, and Regina’s next to him. After that is Terry, with Libby against the other side of the tent, though she often ends up rolling over and curling herself around Terry like she’s trying to hug a giant teddy bear—or “Terry bear”, as Regina had once teased.

That’s not to say it doesn’t happen to Regina sometimes…

After tucking her arms under her pillow, Regina quietly rests her face sideways, so that she can look at Domi from under her eyelashes as he shimmies into his sleeping bag, wearing a deep blue nightgown. She’s not sure if he knows she’s awake, but he does look at her briefly as he settles on his side, before he smiles and reaches over (like he always does), tucking her hair behind her ear.

She almost hisses out loud when the very tip of his fingers and nails scrape along her hypersensitive skin, but she tones it down to a sleepy hum to make it seem like she’s already fast asleep, but she’s tempted to move into his fingers when he pulls them away, but she (again) holds back. She always gets touchy when she’s like this; on a high from her electrified rush, the lightning sizzling along her veins and making every touch to her skin feel like a bolt of lightning is rushing from the point of contact and numbing her features and – _by the Six!_ – it feels _sooooo_ good…!

Silence settles on the tent as her friends all fall asleep, but she stays awake for a little longer, even though her eyes are shut now. And, not for the first time, she thinks about what she’s done.

She doesn’t even know when she started doing this, or figured out she even _could_ do it, but she does remember that first initial burst when the magical energy had surged through her, and remembers how she’d actually cried out from the _surge_ , loud enough that her friends had rushed over to see what was wrong. She’s still not sure why she lied to them and said she accidentally touched the stone and got shocked—even though it technically _wasn’t_ a lie… she just lied about what had happened after—but she still kept it a secret to this day, because, really, what would it change?

Aside from the fact that she can no longer enjoy these relaxing moments in peace anymore, I mean…

 

When they get up in the morning, just as they’re eating breakfast, Libby mentions something about a hunt she recalls the last time they were in Meldacio that only showed up early in the morning and offers that they hunt it down. No one disagrees, but Regina finds herself a little worried. The buzzing in her ears and the tingling along her skin is still there—she probably took too much last night and she really should’ve shown some restraint—and she knows she needs to let it loose at some point, or she’s going to have a problem fairly soon.

Dia doesn’t notice the change, but _fuck_ those feathers of his chest as they move over her calves! She’s never ridden when she was completely full of energy, and she realizes now that it was a _huge_ mistake to not have released some energy earlier and just go straight to taking in more, only to feel a little better. She probably would’ve kicked herself to the ass if she’d had the physical capability to do so. She’s amazed she’s not openly whimpering and she quietly prays that she can hold out until they reach Meldacio, because she’s not sure how long she’ll last if they have to spend too long riding.

And thankfully, she’s able to hold out long enough until then, but her relief doesn’t last long, because while she and Domi are handing in the dog tags, offering their condolences to Dave and asking him to pass them to their families as well, Libby and Terry have already gone and accepted the hunt. Now Regina _did_ say that she’d agreed to the hunt, but she would’ve liked a little more time.

She can’t even use the excuse for shopping, because they still _have_ everything. They didn’t waste any potions, they still have enough water bottles, some energy bars to munch on during their long trek, and they still had some leftover ingredients from last night they could still use tonight. So _fuck_ she was in trouble…

Once they’ve checked the map and have a general idea of where in the Vesperpool they need to be, they get on their Chocobos and prepare to head off. Regina actually has to bit her lip this time because _FUCK_ those feathers! She _really_ should’ve taken it easy on the energy last night… or at least released some before going back.

There’s nothing she can do about it now, though, and thankfully no one asks her about it and so they hurry off to the Vesperpool to start the hunt anew.

 

“ _Screw_ all this water and just _screw_ this area in general!!” Regina hisses angrily as they move along the Vesperpool. The density of the trees didn’t allow them to move in on the back of their Chocobos so they’d been forced to dismount and leg the last part of the journey. And Regina’s nearly lost her shoes _twice_ in the slop that was the lakebeds of the Vesperpool.

Yes, she’s annoyed and _fuck_ she just needs an outlet right now to get rid of it all!

And thankfully she’s not the only one annoyed…

“ _Oooohhhh…!_ This humidity is going to ruin my makeup!” Domi whines unhappily as he moves after. He’s got no problems with his knee-length boots (lucky bastard…), but the mud sticking to his shoes is clearly the last worry on his mind.

“Oh stop bitching, will ya?” Terry laughs, and Regina tries not to grumble over how _unaffected_ Terry is about the whole thing. Not to mention Libby! Ugh…!

“…It’s supposed to be around here, isn’t it?” Regina asks after a little while more.

“Yes, it should be,” Libby murmurs as she adjusts her glasses. “It may just be hiding.”

“How can something _that_ big be—”

Regina’s not even given the opportunity to finish her complaint/question/demand as their target suddenly lunges out from the water and then straight for them with a loud roaring hiss.

“Me and my big mouth!!” Regina roars out in anger as she leaps away while yanking out her sword, while Domi already shooting straight into the large snake’s gaping maw. Terry’s pulled out her polearm and Libby is darting around to try and search for a weak point to exploit as she reaches for her glasses to adjust them.

The Midgardsommr is very unimpressed with their attempts to break through its scaly hide, snapping its jaws out at them and lashing out with its tail, as well as spitting out blobs of pure venom. Thankfully Libby’s cooking from last night was giving them a stronger resistance to the more commonly known poisons out there, so they don’t have to worry too much on _that_. Plus, they’ve got plenty of antidotes on them, just in case.

As Libby slices across the beast’s hide with her dagger – or tries to, anyway; the scales aren’t quite working with her – she scoffs as she jumps back, just barely missing a bite from the large snake. “I fear we’ve underestimated our target’s strength!” she calls to the others as they try to hold the beast off. “Retreat may be our best option!”

Regina curses in aggravation, but she knows Libby is right; their weapons barely have an effect on this beast, and if Libby can’t find a way for them to deal with it quicker, then it would be in their best interest to leave now so they can come back with – hopefully – a better plan.

“Right… everyone fall back!” she shouts out, as she dodges another swing from the serpent’s tail.

No one disagrees with the order and they begin to back off, still avoiding the beast’s jaws. Sadly, it seems to realize that they’re trying to escape and it seems to disagree with the plan. Instead of aiming at them, it lashes out and strikes a nearby tree, and it groans and creaks, and then it breaks in half. Regina curses in annoyance as she adjusts her stance and then speed steps out of the way, not realizing the blue sparks left behind from her move for like a split second.

It just wasn’t important.

…what _was_ however…

“ _Kyaah!_ ”

“ _DOMI!!_ ” Regina screams in tandem with Libby and Terry when they realize simultaneously that the tree’s fallen right onto their friend, pinning him to the muddy ground, floundering for his guns. Terry is already there, using both her spear and her arm to try and lift the tree from the silvery-blonde, with Libby hurrying over to try and pull him out from under it. But the problem is that the Midgardsommr is already rearing back in preparation to lunge for them.

For a brief moment—maybe like a split second—Regina hesitates on what she’s about to do, but her friend’s terrified cries and whimpers force her to take action before she can give herself the chance to rethink her motions as she darts forward. Her free hand is tingling as energy gathers along her palm, spreads out to the tips of her fingers, and she can swear she already sees the sparks jumping along her skin, but she doesn’t bother to look as she throws her arm forward as the beast lunges, unleashing the energy gathered beneath her skin and letting it fly with a resounding crackle of power.

The Midgardsommr roars in agony, the water that’s still dripping from its scaly hide conducting the electrical current and increasing the power behind the magical attack, throwing it back to land into the Vesperpool, twitching and thrashing and roaring in agony. Her friends are staring in surprise, but she shakes them out of it by shouting at them to move because it’s not going to stay down forever. She’s got enough of a charge left in case it’s able to get up before they’re out of range, but it might not work as well the second time around, she knows…

She helps Libby to pull Domi out from under the tree and Terry then proceeds to lift him up when it becomes clear he can barely move from the pain in his back while Regina snags up his guns, and then they run, toward the nearest haven that they’d passed on the way there.

 

It’s still early, and while they weren’t going to sleep yet, they do set up Domi’s sleeping bag to put him down on it to rest his back, despite how Domi is now saying he’s fine and he can move on his own again. However, when he does try to get up, he yelps and flops back down, pouting unhappily as Terry mumbles “Told ya so,” while Libby works on soaking a cloth with one of the potions.

Regina is sitting over by Domi’s hands, and she reaches out for one of them, holding it gently in her own, and he squeezes her hand in return to silently show he appreciates the gesture.

Regina’s expecting the question, so she isn’t surprised when, after rubbing the potion into Domi’s back and waiting for it to take effect, Libby speaks up to address her. “Regina. Is there a specific reason you decided to keep the fact that you know how to use magic from us?”

It’s not really accusing, but it might as well have been. Regina tries not to sigh as she runs her free hand through her hair, thinking on how she could best tell them why she hadn’t told them sooner. When Domi squeezes her hand, she instinctively squeezes back, but it seems to help and she allows a tiny smile before it drops as she begins to speak.

“Honestly? I dunno… I didn’t even know I could just… let it go like that.” She shrugs a little. “I… usually just let it go along the ground when I’ve got too much built up.”

Libby’s humming, but Regina doesn’t look up at her, because she’s not sure what to expect from her friend. She’s not one to start shouting, but she’s not feeling up for a lecture, either. Not at the moment, anyway.

Domi suddenly moves his thumbs along her knuckles and she knows it’s meant for comfort, but Regina almost jumps as a stray surge of electricity shoots up her arm and down her spine and she almost curses. She knew she still had a bit of energy left, but it shouldn’t have been enough for it to be noticeable. But hey, she’d been wrong before.

“I see… can you do this only with lightning?”

The question’s sudden and it makes Regina blink curiously. “Uh… no… I can do ice and fire, too.”

Again, Libby’s humming, but this time Regina dares to look up and she sees that she’s got one hand to her chin and the other around her waist as she thinks in silence. Regina’s not sure what to think, or even what Libby is thinking, but she doesn’t say anything in response.

“…If that’s true…” Libby says suddenly, startling the others. “…Then perhaps we may be able to complete our hunt, still.”

 

Their extra preparations take the rest of the day, which includes Domi’s recovery. Libby and Terry head for Meldacio and manage to find some sort of antique bottle that Libby calls a “magic flask” (so original…) which should be able to hold Regina’s magical energy. Regina has her doubts, but she trusts Libby’s judgment, and so they settle around the fire as the sun is setting, trying to get the energy to stay in the bottle. Not as easy as Libby had apparently expected it to be, and they did almost set their hair on fire when trying to extract the fire magic… but they finally manage to trap the ice magic in there (after Regina had to get a refill).

Oddly, Libby isn’t asking about the previous times she’s gone out to collect magical energy unknown to her friends, and she doesn’t really seem to care about it as much. She’s more focused on whatever idea she’s got going now. And when she explains her plan to the others, they all smirk as they realize what she’s thinking.

And so, early in the morning (begrudgingly), Regina gets out from her sleeping bag – before everyone else… shocker! – and, after rubbing the dust from her eyes, she hops down from the haven and walks the short distance to the three spires with their white glow that surround the haven. After taking a small breath, she raises her hand and holds it close to the spires. The magical energy tingles and bites, but it’s far from unpleasant as its cool touch rushes through her, its jolt of cold effectively waking her as well.

Once she’s full  and the spire depleted, she shakes her hand to ease the numbing cold that at the same time feels like it’s burning, and then she hurries back to the haven and climbs up again.

“Good morning~” chirps a familiar cheery voice, and she smiles.

“Hey, Domi,” she says as she walks over… but then she turns serious. “How’s your back?”

“Hm? … _oh!_ I’m okay, love. Really, it wasn’t so bad.” Domi’s waving it off now, but Regina knows that it was definitely _bad_ …and that it _hurt_ … but she doesn’t say anything of it. She doesn’t want to bring up the fact that, if she’d been only a split second slower, Domi could’ve… “So… did you go get more… ‘magic’?”

She’s thankful for the change of subject despite her initial surprise, and she allows a small smile. “Yeah… if I can’t make it work the first time, I’ll have enough to try again.”

“Sounds good,” Domi says with a light giggle.

Regina goes over and takes the chair next to Domi as he returns to his sketch. She absently wonders what he’s drawing, but she knows he won’t show her until he’s good and ready. That’s normal for him, really…

“…You didn’t seem surprised when I did that…” she says suddenly. She doesn’t really want to discuss it, but it’ll likely keep haunting her brain until she brings it up.

Domi pauses in his sketching, charcoal positioned against the paper at the start of a new stroke, and he looks at her for a few moments, she can tell even without looking up at him. He then sets his charcoal down and thinks for a moment, as his brows are furrowing and he bites on the side of his lip.

“…I was… a little,” he admits finally. “Just a little…I guess… well um… is it funny if I had… like, an inkling before?”

“Hm…? Inkling how?”

“U-um.. w-well…”

She should probably ease off on the poor boy, because, really, it’s not _that_ important… but he just looks so cute when he’s embarrassed and searching for the proper words, fingers holding up his sketchpad to hide his mouth as they move along the back of it, cheeks a light pink. He’s just too _cute_ for his own good.

“You can tell me, Domi,” she urges him gently. “I won’t laugh at you, promise”

He looks up from over his sketchpad, for barely a second before he looks back down again. Then he manages to stammer out: “We-well… there um… there were times when you were… well… when you were either b-burning up or freezing cold or… um…it-it felt like you were e-electrically charged… so… um…”

Regina allows a smile at the stammered words. She really isn’t surprised that Domi had noticed all those moments. He always did like to be touchy with them all; hugging them or just playfully shoving them with little to no effect, and he seems to like it with Regina the most, so it makes sense that he would notice any shifts in her body first. And he probably saw no need to mention it to anyone because, at the time, it just hadn’t seemed important to him.

“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” she says, as if she was almost conceding a point, but it helps to calm Domi down somewhat.

Their conversation is cut short when Terry arrives on the scene, and Libby doesn’t take much longer, either. There’s no more time to talk afterwards, as they get to breakfast, during which they discuss their new plan one more time, just to be absolutely sure they have the entire plan set in their head.

And only then do they head out, determined to get that rematch that, this time, they _will_ win.

 

It takes them a good 10 minutes before they reach the correct area, but they don’t rush it this time, and they’re fully on edge for their target to spring at them once more. Regina already has her hand on her sword, and she can see Libby with her hand in her pouch, ready to pull out their secret weapon. She just hopes her friend’s plan will work as she believes it to work.

“Hold on, dears…” Domi is suddenly saying, and they pause. Domi’s hands are hovering by his guns and he’s cautiously looking around. “…do you hear that?”

They listen, and Regina frowns in question. She doesn’t hear anything… but before she can ask, understanding dawns and her grip on her sword tightens. Domi’s right to ask… it’s far _too_ quiet… which would mean…

“ _Left!!_ ” Libby shouts immediately and they all leap away to avoid the Midgardsommr snapping out at them from beneath the water, and they all pull out their weapons, with Domi already unloading shot after shot to keep it occupied. And in the meantime, Libby pulls out the flask and she uncorks it, and then – after a bit of fumbling, though Libby will deny it to her dying breath, she’s sure – she releases the energy contained within it.

And then the icy frost erupts around them, crackling and loud and cold as the water particles around them crystalize and suck all heat from the area, and the serpent roars in agony as the sudden cold causes its blood to flow slower as the cold hits it – but there are four other screams of pain/cold as the ice spreads further and further.

“ _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck **FUCK!**_ ” Regina is howling out as the cold seeps through her clothes and hits her skin. She hadn’t been expecting this much cold and it’s actually hurting, but she refuses to give in as she clicks her sword into gun mode, aiming swiftly and as precise as she can with her body shivering from the cold, and then she pulls the trigger. The shot hits and unlike the last time it chips the scales, brittle and useless as protection in the freezing cold. “ _C’mon move!!_ ” she shouts, and her friends are quick to move in with her.

Domi’s hissing from the cold as he darts out if reach, firing shot after shot, firing quickly to prevent his guns from freezing and reloading the second he’s out of ammo. Terry jumps up and spins in midair to slice across the back of its neck, before stabbing her polearm blade-first into the open wound, slamming her legs against the scales as she rips and tears, ignoring the beast’s thrashing as she clings on to one of its spines. Libby is ducking under its rapidly swiping head as it tries to throw Terry off while simultaneously snapping at the other three but failing miserably because the cold is slowing it down, allowing Libby to tear through its scaly hide, drawing blood even as she kicks up the dirty (icy) water of the Vesperpool into the wound, with the intention of causing an infection (if possible). And Regina is right behind her, lashing out and opening the wounds wide, sometimes firing a shot into the wounds at close range, which results in the beast roaring out in agony at every shot.

The heat of battle is causing the ice to thaw at a much faster rate than it probably should, and Regina knows they either need to finish quickly or she needs to prepare a second charge of ice magic. She’s hoping they can finish it soon, but she knows it’s better to be safe than sorry, which is why she shouts to Libby to throw her the flask. Once she has it in her hand, she jumps back and focuses briefly in the way that Libby told her the night before.

She thankfully manages on her first try this time, and she tucks it in her bag, careful not to accidentally break it against the rest of her supplies, because that would be a pretty tragic (if slightly silly) way to go; frozen like a popsicle because of her own stupidity.

She then darts forward and lashes out, and then jumps back when she senses a familiar presence and snaps her blade in half to switch to gun mode, just as Domi reaches her side. And as their backs are pressed together and their arms raise up to rest against one another, they don’t even need to look at each other to pull the trigger at the same time, striking the exact same injury and lodging the bullets in the beast’s almost pliable flesh beneath its scaly hide. Domi giggles merrily as they then jump back and share a quick mid-five before they focus back on the battle at hand.

As Domi retreats back a little further to take better aim, Terry lands beside her in a crouch and looks back at her briefly. Regina nods her head once and they lunge forward, and then they split up from each other and then kick off from the ground, and they spin in half somersaults with Terry going over Regina because she had a little more force behind her kickoff, and then their blades tear through scaly hide and blood starts pouring out now that the area is growing hotter again and no longer freezing the blood, and the sight makes Terry cackle.

When Regina regains her balance again and the icy water isn’t freezing her anymore, Libby comes up to her suddenly and asks her a question that’s barely audible over the din of battle, but she answers it despite that she has to shout to be heard, and the response she gets in return is bit startling and she’s not sure what to think, but she doesn’t question it and snaps her hands shut around the hilts of her friend’s daggers, letting the electrical charge go along the weapons. Libby then thanks her before they have to jump aside from a snap that would’ve chopped them both in half, and then her friend’s rushing in and then, with a swift flick of her wrists, she buries her blades into one of the beast’s many wounds, and now Regina understands as the electricity rips through it and makes it screech in pain.

“ _Now_ we’re getting somewhere!” Terry cackles out, and Domi’s giggling as he reloads.

“Just one more push should suffice!” Libby is saying, and Regina agrees with her.

_They can definitely do this…_

 

After what feels like forever (and one more Blizzara spell), the Midgardsommr finally roars one final time, the noise dying as it drops down into the dirty water, but they still leap back, in case it’s faking it. They stay on edge for maybe ten more minutes, their weapons and eyes trained on the beast for any suspicious movement.

When no such movement comes, Regina (as leader) slowly edges closer, already having the remainder of her electrical charge sparking at her fingertips just in case it decided to get up and lunge for her again, because that wouldn’t be the first time. She sticks out her sword, and prods it once… twice… thrice… and it remains completely motionless.

As this knowledge dawns on them, Terry breaks first and she lets out a crow of laughter and Domi breathes in relief, before he breaks out into a smile and Libby is humming with a small half-smile of her own as she adjusts her glasses. And Regina is breathing out a sigh with a half-smirk as she sheathes her weapon again before joining her friends.

They spend a few brief moments celebrating and congratulating each other on their victory, and Libby (of course) wants to collect some of the Midgardsommr’s meat, to see if perhaps she can make something of it, though she has her doubts. Once they’re done, though, they head back to Meldacio, agreeing that they’re due for a shower and _real_ beds after almost a week straight of camping.

After collecting their reward, they retreat to the caravan, and Regina takes dibs on the first shower, to which no one (really) complains. The water’s far from hot, but it’s warm enough to ensure she won’t freeze to death… and the faint electrical charge still running through her helps, too.

As she stands under the spray, she groans and presses her fingers to the back of her neck, releasing a few small sparks that give her a small kick—just a little bit—and she bites her lip to keep from moaning out loud. It won’t do for the others to hear her making such sounds; they’d probably get the wrong idea. And she highly doubts she can get away with some of the more… _extravagant_ ideas she likes to practice from time to time.

Once she’s finished her shower, dried off and pulled on her sleepwear, she walks out and declares the shower to be free. Terry takes the next shower, since Libby’s busy cooking, and Domi appears to be half-asleep already where he’s lying on the bottom bunk.

“…Ah, right. Regina?”

Regina hums as she turns to Libby, who hasn’t even looked up from her cooking. “Yeah?”

“If possible, I’d ask you to not keep such secrets from us if we are to work to our utmost efficiency.”

She isn’t surprised by the comment, though the way in which it’s framed _does_ surprise her. She chooses not to mention it, though, and she smiles with a chuckle.

“No promises there…you really think I’d hand out all my relaxation practices just like that?”

“Fair point.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hoooo boy... Yeah. So! Two things;
> 
> 1) I have a few more ideas that I would like you guys and gals to vote on. They'll be down below.  
> 2) I challenge you guys/gals to write a story where this EXACT thing happens to Noct. Either solo or with one of the others... or everyone. XD
> 
> -Tsunami; when the seas just come up and swallow you whole  
> -Gaia's Wrath; because sometimes the earth is just angry with you  
> -Memento Mori; when a celebration turns sour  
> -Imagination; dreams are cool… because anything can happen there (direct sequel to “Relaxation”)  
> OR if you have another idea, leave it in a comment and I'll see what I an do with it.


End file.
